The invention relates to an automatic transmission for motor vehicle with a reduced planetary linkage, whose planet gears of a first and second set of planetary gears mesh with each other and share a common carrier whereby an inner sun gear of the first set of planetary gears rotating together with a hollow shaft and the sun gear of the second set of planetary gears rotating together with an intermediate shaft can be selectively linked to an input shaft via a first clutch and via a second clutch, respectively the intermediate shaft can be braked via a first friction brake and whereby the carrier is connected at its transmission-input side end with a second friction brake and a ring gear of the second set of planetary gears with a driven gear of the automatic transmission, and whereby the intermediate shaft is built as a central solid shaft which traverses the driven gear, and the first friction brake engages the segment of the intermediate shaft extending beyond the drive gear on the transmission-output side.
An automatic transmission of the aforementioned kind is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,733,928 (FIG. 10). Therein the clutches which can link the hollow shaft and the intermediate shaft with the input shaft and the second friction brake which can lock the carrier of the two sets of planetary gear are arranged outside the radial contour of the planetary linkage, so that a construction with a relatively big axial length results. Besides, this automatic transmission can not be operated in overdrive.